Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1887-06-16
lican community.

portunities for education are open to
the children of the poor and rich alike,
without money and without price.
When the startling evidences of litter
acy in the South were disclosed by
the census of 1880, a measure was twice
introduced and passed by Republican
Senate to appropriate large sums of
money from the National Treasury to
be distributed according to the number
of illiterate persons in the several
States. When these matters were sent
to a Democratic House they were
promptly smothered. According to
the Confederate idea they were uncon-
stitutional. They found no power in
the Constitution for the education of
children. Perhaps CLEAN of intelli-
gence informed them that Democracy
and ignorance 60 hand in hand to-
gether, and this was a conspiracy
against the Democratic party of the
future. At all events these bills sleep
the sleep that knows no waking in a
Democratic committee.
So also with internal improvements.
Our country is bounded by great oceans
open to all the world, but with imper-
feet harbors, and is cut by vast rivers
the highways for the cheapest possible
| transportation, with bars and falls and
snags that prevented or impeded their
use. 1t has been the policy of the Re-
publican party, during every Congress
when 1t had the power, to appropriate
money from the National Treasury to
remove these obstacles to commerce,
and to open the highways to the free
and untaxed use of the people. The
Democratic party has also been OPP
posed, more or less, to this policy, but
great works were in progress, and by
the common consent of both parties,
Congress, at its last session, passed a
bill in the usual form to provide for the
most important works. 1t was sent in
ample time to the President for his APP
proval, but he had been so busy read
ing and vetoing pension bills to Union
soldiers that he had no time to give to
the river and harbor bill. So this great
measure of internal improvement was
defeated, and numberless unfinished
works are delayed and others destroyed
by the pocket veto of Democratic
President. l tell you common say.
ing that the President would have
found time to sign it, but that there
was small appropriation in it for the
Hennepin Canal.
And SO with the great public policy
OF strengthening our commercial rela-
tons with the American republics and
the Dominion of Canada. A growing
feeling exists in the Republican party
that liberal measures should be adopted
to increase our trade, to establish lines
of steamships, to improve postal facil-
tiles, to make commercial treaties and
invite friendly conference with these
countries. But this has met with nc
favor with the Democratic party.
DEMOCRATIC POLICY.
Only one affirmative measure was pro-
posed by it, and that was to reduce the
surplus in the Treasury. 1t was sale
that the Republican party was boarding
vast sums of idle money to make times
hard; that they would scatter it among
the people. The Republican party had
adopted the policy of receiving gold
and silver coin into the treasury, and
for the convenience of the people tC
Issue certificates for ii which circulated
as money. 1t had also adopted the
policy of maintaining in the Treasury
from $100,000,000 to $140,000,000 OF
coin to secure prompt redemption OF
United States notes. All other money
received in the Treasury was, under
Republican policy, applied to the pay
ment of the public debt. This policy
was pursued with such success that the
bonded debt was reduced from 1885,
431. 81 43 to $1,375, 1852, 443.9 and the
interest of the debt from 1851, 900, zoo
to $47 100000. Our Democratic friends,
in the canvass of 1884, promised to pay
out all this idle money. They said it
was kept to make money scarce; il
would be divided among the people.
What was the -esultP a Democratic
Secretary kept piling up more idle
money; to give him an excuse for doing
so he changed the form of the debt
statement. He excluded the whole
mass of fractional silver coin from the
count. Hc increased the balance on
hand $50, 900, 900 more than the Repub-
lican party had done. For two years
a Democratic House. with fifty majority,
with sole power on the subject, has
been trying to find a way to reduce the
surplus, but utterly failed TO agree.
And now n new Democratic House, it
is said, is to be called upon in extra
session to solve the riddle. The bust
ness community is beginning to feel the
sense of danger, and the cry is coming,
Good Lord, deliver us.
The President has received great
credit in certain quarters for the sup
port he has given to the civil-service
law. This law only applies to clerical
services in the great offices and depart
ments of the Government. Now this
is Republican measure for which
voted with The great body of the Re-
publican members of the Senate and
House, and | will join heartily in APP
prevail of its just and firm enforcement,
but now an ingenious way has been
found substantially to get rid of the
law by requiring old and experienced
employees, who have become by long
training invaluable to the public service
to pass n school examination to test
whether they ought to be retained or
not. | am afraid such test would
clean out even so excellent body as
the Illinois Legislature. | know it
would seriously affect many heads of
departments. And now it is claimed
that under the demands of our Demo-
cratic friends, hungry and thirsty after
q long fast, more than four. tifths of Re-
publican officers not embraced in the
civil service law have been changed by
the President. When the Senate polite
ly asked for the cause of removal, he
said as Jack Falstaff did, HE would
not tell upon compulsion.
And SO, fellow citizens. you may run
the gamut OF all the political questions
great and small that divide the two
parties, and you will find the line of
demarkation is Union and Confederate;
Republican and Democratic. | am not